


SpellCaught

by Katsuke



Series: SpellCaught [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ancient History, Experimentation, F/M, Gaster is kind of a creep, Human Experimentation, Human is female, Mixed Media fic, Papyrus has self confidence issues, Pre-Undertale, Rebelling youth, Sans doesn't trust his father, Skeleton Puns, Slice of Life, Summoning, soul fishing, will have angsty parts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:54:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23673418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuke/pseuds/Katsuke
Summary: It has been a couple hundred years since the monsters have been trapped Underground and no human have trespassed the underground since. Without a human soul, the monsters must turn to their own magical power to find a way out.The Royal Magician and Scientist, WingDings Gaster and his two sons make several attempts to safely break the barrier, using experimental magics and ancient texts.One night, the two brothers make a new attempt and somehow manage to summon a very confused human to the Underground. Their victory is short-lived however, when the brothers soon realize the human’s soul is broken, shattered in the summoning process, and not strong enough to break the barrier.Gaster takes it upon himself to exchange half of his soul with the human’s, hoping he can heal one half enough for the soul to break the barrier and set them all free. Taking in half of the powerful monster’s soul in return, the human suffers quite a side effect: turning into a skeleton monster!Sans and Papyrus are tasked with watching over the human now turned skeleton while Gaster heals their soul.
Series: SpellCaught [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704610
Comments: 19
Kudos: 21





	1. The Summoning Theory

**Author's Note:**

> A small older brother and a tall younger brother, studying like crazy before locking themselves in a study, drawing circles on the floor. I don't think I have to tell you, the reference is obvious enough!! XD

_35 liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia, 1.5 kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorous, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of saltpeter, 80 grams of sulfur, 7.5 grams of fluorine, 5 grams of iron, 3 grams of silicon, and traces of other elements…._

Or at least, that’s what it said in that illustrated book.

Papyrus was very enthusiast about this. He didn’t really think it was an actual recipe of course, but when he had brought up the idea to his brother, they were both immediately intrigued: They had never considered the artificial human route before. Maybe it was worth a try. Of course, the list of components alone was not enough. The documents were also not descriptive enough regarding the actual process so they had to figure it out on their own. It had become their main project in the last few months and the more they talked about it, the more they figured out the kinks, the more Sans felt they could be on to something

They had set up their own testing area in one of the less used study rooms, clearing out the desks, dusting the shelves, moving the currently useless books to another room, and cleaning the floor. Well… Papyrus mostly did. Sans had mainly been on watching and diversion duty. They had brought in all the books they needed, or thought they’d need with them and spent several hours a day, rereading the formulas and essays they had found and testing a few different formulas. They knew if they could figure at least half of it from the books, with enough patience, they could fill in the blanks with the intent of their magic. As the weeks went by, they started to see some encouraging progress.

Papyrus was very talented when it came to gravitational magic. He had come up with the idea that he could maybe use it as a base to pin down a soul and maybe encage it within a physical form to bind with it, not unlike how monster dust would stick to things they loved after they had fallen down. Something as theoretical as a human soul was not easy to grasp given the less than available information about it. Of course, the writings were very clear that humans did not dust upon falling, so he spent several days coming up with a comparative form of the process. He had made several successful attempts at binding immaterial substances, such as light and heat, to objects, to air and even managed to empty the void out of a container. Although that last one had kind of started to implode when he had tried to check and Sans had to quickly throw the container in a rift between spaces. Gaster would not happy if he knew…

It was hard to work with so little data and without having an actual human soul to work and test on, but he was clever, much more than people seem to give him credit for. However, he was not all powerful and considered a physical binding schematic would help them in the process. It needed to be stable and fluid so he opted for a circular shape. The circles were also used in several of the book they had gone through, and after multiple experiments, he could not refute it was indeed the perfect shape to process with. He also needed to cover the three elements of the human’s soul. Another text spoke of an adage that linked the health of a soul to a healthy mind and a healthy body. Those three elements working together in harmony would help them insure the summoned soul would be stable. Therefore, triangles were added to the circle shapes. Even after finding these base principles, the younger brother kept searching for other references to any summoning forms to perfect his tool. Soon, he got to work and started creating the circular form on the ground, making sure the angle of each axes and shapes were perfect. He had to start over a few times, but when he chalked down the last magnetic symbol, he felt quite proud: It would not get any better than this.

For his part, Sans had a knack for dimensional magic: He could access the void between planes of existences with so little effort and he was pretty sure he had sensed something akin to soul past the void in the past. He was therefore the best candidate to work on how to reach out to where the soul would be coming from as well as its the transportation and its construction. Luckily for him, they were several references to artificial bodies from different sources. Although he suspected some (a lot) of it were myths and legends, the amount of information was impressive. The hardest part had been to assort the information and identify the truths among the fabrications and it was only after many days of cross referencing each fact and just as many sleepless nights deepening his research, he finally thought he had grasped everything.

The plan was to make a golem, a homunculus, an artificial human and attaching a soul to it. The older brother kept thinking whole thing was highly likely to fail, but it would not be said he would not have tried his best. Basing himself of the recipe his brother had found, he also had to figure out the math. If these quantities applied to an adult human body, they could not simply use them as is: a full grown human body was too risky. Dividing it by half did not seem a logic conclusion either and because human biology books were not well perceived in general and mostly destroyed, he had to rely of a transcript of one of Gaster’s manuscript he kept in his personal collection to figure out a good combination. They had to keep the body manageable if there was even an infinitesimal chance the human could turn on them, which was not uncommon in the stories he had read. Most were fiction or fables with obvious moralistic endings but… humans had proven, even before the war, they could be merciless and treacherous creatures. Forcing one down here was hazardous in itself and they would not endanger the rest of monsterkind more than they had to.

He knew he had to provide a minimum of actual physical elements for this to work and that he would need to compensate the rest with his own magic and the soul’s subconscious concept of human self. He also knew his own normal amount of magic would not suffice for the physical form they were aiming for so he spent a lot of time, accumulating his magic in containers whenever he could. Gaster had been exasperated with him for sleeping in all the time, but he needed the extra rest and he could not exactly smuggle extra food all the time without arising suspicion: They had decided against telling their father of their plan.

Over the last few decades, Gaster had focused his time and research on augmenting the concentration of his own magic in his soul, hoping to trick the barrier into thinking his monster soul contained a human soul and letting him through. However, since the soul of a human outweighed a monster’s a thousand to one, the process was extremely long and hazardous. The last time they thought they had reached a high enough concentration to tempt a contact with the barrier, Gaster had ended up bed ridden for several months and his body had never really recovered completely: his magic had failed to completely desaturate and the residual effect of the concentration now kept it visible at all time in the form of slime around his body since. In the past, he would manifest his floating skeletal hands without restraint, but he was now constrained in range and number by the new texture of his magic. The flowing magic that bound his form had degenerated into a permanent oozing mess connecting his hands to his torso in a gross imitation of limbs. And the more magic he used, the more hands he summoned, the goopier he got, up to the point where his body would start to collapse on itself. He had not yet pushed so far as to not be able to restore part of his original form afterward, but it was established a maximum of 8 simultaneous hands were the safest cap not to cross: Past that number, there was no guarantee his body would ever be able to remain stable. Yet, the scientist had not given up on his plan to use concentrated monster magic and his plans to try another contact with the barrier filled both the brother with dread.

So they kept their project a secret from him for now, pretending the time spent In the study was aimed at looking for new ways to condense magic. The idea was to prevent him from worrying and to let him concentrate on recovering and persist in his already well developed theories. It made no sense to Sans to get Gaster involved until they had at least given the spell a try or two. If it showed potential, and they needed to push the idea further, then they would supplicate their father for his help… and maybe forgiveness.

\------------------------------

“ IS THAT EVERYTHING?” The tall brother asked, nervously eyeing the chalked drawings the ground.

“yup,”

“WE TRIPLE CHECKED THE LIST.”

“yup.”

“AND WE QUADRUPLE CHECKED THE CHECK LIST.”

“yup.”

“SO THIS SHOULD WORK, RIGHT?”

“yup.”

“PLEASE STOP SAYING YUP.”

“yup.”

Papyrus glanced at his older brother. If he didn’t know any better, the small skeleton looked almost relaxed. But he did know better. Sweat was starting to drip on his skull, underneath his crooked hat, he could hear the paper crunch under his stressed phalanges and the small skeleton was standing straighter than usual. They were both nervous. They had both invested so much time and magic already and the perspective of the spell failing was making their bones rattle. They had studied, probed, analyzed, tested, theorised and experimented all they could. This was the next inevitable step.

The moment of truth.

Sans set his notebook on a nearby desk and took a deep breath before relaxing his shoulders and tilting his head to the side.

“not to _pattern_ myself on the back, but we did a _graph_ job.” He felt his brother’s eyes narrow in his direction. “ we were very _metriculous_ so i’m sure we’ll come out of this _vectorious_.”

“SANS, STOP IT.”

“ i’m telling you, we are totally _radian”_ Sans smirked.

“ SANS!” Papyrus yelled before kneeling down to the circle. “ENOUGH WITH THE PUNS! LET’S DO THIS!!”

“i know i know, you think i’m up to _matrix_ again.” Sans smiled and kneeled next to his brother. “just trying to get _grid_ of some tensions here, bro”. He smiled as he watched his brother visibly relax with an exaggerated groan.

The brothers exchanged a confident smile and placed their hands on the edge on the outer circle. The containers of spare magic started to glow as they activated their own. Their eyelights glowed and they felt the magic in their bone travel down their bodies to the chalk lines on the ground. Slowly but surely, the markings started to emit light as well, resonating with them. They both concentrated on their job. Sweat drip down their skull with the effort of concentration.

One of the inner circles fizzled out and with a static sound, a rift open in the middle of the room. The air became heavy and cold and Papyrus clenched his teeth, focusing on the search of an outside energy beyond the void’s opening. He pictured his hands, reaching out into it, like giant magnets invoking a passing energy.

He felt so many things out there, none he could actually describe with words. He felt lost for a moment, his own soul throbbing harshly in his ribcage. He had not expected to feel anything out there but he could tell now this was where the human souls traveled. They flew out of his grasp again and again, unwilling to attach to his magic. They felt fleeting, hurried, anxious, pained, afraid and resigned all at once. So much negative energies he was not prepared for. His sockets scrunched up firmly, his soul searching still. There had to be a good one there he could latch onto. He felt his brother’s phalanges brushing his in support.

“pap, you ok there?” the voice was but a choked whisper.

Papyrus nodded silently and searched harder. There were so many out there, more than he had ever imagined. But only one was enough. That was all he needed. Suddenly, he felt it latch onto him and he opened his eye sockets.

“GOT IT!” His voice sounded more surprised than he intended.

“reel it in! i’m ready!”

Sans focused on his next part. A lot of the backup magic had already been depleted to open the portal, but he was still in the safe zone. Keeping an eye on the rift, he lifted his hand toward the materials in the second quadrant of the circle. He pictured the body he had spent weeks formulating in his mind: A physical structure for the soul to latch to. The soul would do part of the forming itself, no doubt, but he had to give it a base to work with: Bone structure, muscles and skin which the humans were made of. Normally, it would be kind of disturbing to imagine a skeleton inside of them, but he had come to term with the concept a long time ago. He willed the components to form, more magic draining out of him to allow the soul to rework the rest. A small glowing form emerged of the void, too bright to be discernible and Sans closed the portal behind it. The soul was sequestered. They were almost there. Fail or not, this was already more than he had hoped for.

The brothers’ phalanges intertwined and they held their breath as the last step began: binding the soul to the body. Strained whispers resonted in the study as they both chanted their practiced spell. And with the last words, they opened their sockets wide and fixed their eyelights on the glowing form in front of them.

“BOUND!” They both yelled in unison.

The light expanded into a warm blast and they raised their arms as they were thrown back, trying to protect themselves from the blinding flash. The wave of energy lifted the dust around the study with a loud whoosh before the room settled back into a heavy silence. They lowered their arms protecting their faces and nervously looked to the center of the room. Bulky clouds of dust slowly floated away from the center where a glowing lump laid. The air was still filled with static, the circled still slightly glowing and the brothers stared as the lump slowly moved: its head hung low, small hands and legs gradually uncurled from under it pushing the form upward. The form then twisted its torso until the body flipped onto a sitting position. A flurry mass rose up and parted, to reveal a face, eyes still closed. The thing let out a breath and opened its eyes to look around, its gaze falling on the brothers, kneeling at the edge of the circle.

[…]


	2. Equivalent Exchange (comic strip)

[ to be continued...]


	3. Lost in Translation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I know these chapters aren't very long, but I'm hoping to get better with time.  
> Plus, I'm actually drawing some scenes instead of writing them so it's a bit of a weird concept to begin with.
> 
> hope you enjoy regardless!

Lost in Translation

It took a while for the human to calm down. The possibility of the whole screaming and freaking out – on both their parts - was something Sans had downplayed way, _way_ too much. Still, he was relieved to see the human did not appear aggressive at all. On the contrary, they had quickly retreated to a corner of the study, making themselves as small as possible and once the screaming had settled, he began to assess the situation.

Sans still could not believe the spell had worked. And on the first try too! He had expected some sort of result, yes; some sort of half realisation of their theories that would allow them to perfect the procedure before trying again, maybe; but an actual and complete success, never in a hundred year! However, the summoning was only the first part. They had to get the human to help and so far the communication was… heh.

Papyrus offered his hand to the human, speaking in a gentle and much softer tone than usual. The younger brother had realised quickly that his own joyful screaming had really not help diminish the small human’s initial terrified reaction. Sans hung back a bit, preferring to have a wider view of the situation so he could react if the human made their move.

He continued to analyse the result of their summoning: The human was small, just about his own height, if not shorter, and he resisted the urge to pat himself on the back for his successful calculations of physical elements to control the human’s size. They didn’t appear particularly strong either, given they had resorted to crawling away from the brothers instead of running away, of even getting up at all. He noted their arms were shaking with efforts trying to keep themselves upward. Although, this could also be due to shock, so he guarded himself of premature conclusions for now. Unlike many illustrations he had seen before, this human had somewhat plain features. Their skin was pale, face and body full of curves, hair was curly, long and light brown (he thought human normally had bright colored hair like green and pink, but maybe this one was the exception), and their eyes were surprisingly smaller than he expected. Also, he could not explain why, but the human had appeared fully clothed too. Not that he was disappointed or anything, but for the life of him he could not figure out where the clothes came from. Perhaps the soul had a high sense of modesty and had been self-conscious enough to use some of the magic and material to retain its previous decency. Who knows.

So far, they had not pronounced a comprehensible word. The vocals cords did work so maybe it was a question of the soul settling in before the conscious mind could link up to the memories to remember speech patterns. He hoped the magic used in the process would help with that too. What if they spoke a different language? Would they even be able to communicate with them?

“See Human, You Are Okay. We Are Not Going To Hurt You. I Understand This Situation Is Possibly Very Confusing For You, But You Have Nothing To Fear.” Papyrus repeated in a cooing voice, keeping his hands up towards them in a pacific and inviting manner. “We Called You Here To Help Us, Not To Hurt You.”

He had been going at it for the last 10 minutes, looping the calming words over and over while Sans kept a watchful eye. The human had considerably calmed down, but their eyes were still moving between the brothers quickly, possibly evaluating an escape route. Not that Sans would let them even try.

“maybe they just don’t understand what you’re saying pap.”

Their eyes shifted and stayed on the smaller skeleton as he spoke. At least, they could hear. Good. Sans sighed and moved from his spot near the door to get closer. Papyrus had done a good job so far but it was time to try something else. The human flinched a bit, but seemed to relax when they realised the skeleton stopped to squat a few feet away, giving them space. He wracked his mind to remember the words he had come across in many illustrated book over the years.

“wakarimasu ka” he asked slowly.

The human stared at him, startled by the unnaturally forced pronunciation. He wasn’t fluent of course and seeing the confused look on their face, neither were they.

“ok… how about...” he paused, eyelights raised toward the ceiling, trying to recall another dialect he had studied long ago. “intellegis posse te nobiscum?”

Still no change in the confused stare they were giving him. There was another one he had found a few years back. It had seemed pretty exclusive, but heck, why not.

“tur- cin heni- ammen?” This time, even Papyrus joined in on the confused look and Sans raised his hands in a defeated shrug. “Oh well, worth a shot!”

The human seemed to realise the taller skeleton was just as confused as they were and their mouth twitched upward a bit before letting out a nervous giggle, catching both brothers by surprise. They shared a look and the atmosphere lifted a bit. Papyrus shot his brother a look.

“WERE YOU REALLY TRYING SPEAKING IN DIFFERENT TONGUES, BROTHER?”

“yeah, guess it was pretty _tasteless_ ,” he replied with a nervous shrug. “to tell you the _tooth_ , i knew it was a long shot.”

Before Papyrus had the time to react, the human let out another giggle and they both stared at each other. Suddenly, Sans’s grin grew wider and Papyrus watched in horror has he sat down, excitingly scooting over to the defenceless human.

“SANS… NO.”

“sans yes!” The smaller skeleton turned to the human, his eyelights happily sparkling in the dimly light study. “always knew puns were the _unicornversal_ language of the world.” He paused to make sure he had the human’s attention before addressing them. “sorry we didn’t mean to _scarecrow_ ya, human. don’t worry, we are _fiendly._ it is _fangstastic_ to meet you. we were hoping you could _spook_ to us a bit, if you can.”

The human was startled by the sudden flow of words but quickly caught on and started laughing. Papyrus could not hold his groan as he brought his hand to his face, letting it slide down in defeat. At least they were making progress.

After several minutes of puns, jokes and tongue twisters, during which Papyrus had resigned himself to his fate, the small human had relaxed completely, laughing so hard at one point, and they had to sign the skeleton to stop to allow them to breathe.

“e-enou-gh.” they suddenly spoke out between laughs, startling both skeletons.

Sans grinned and raised his hand toward his brother who met his high-five without missing a beat before scooting over closer beside his brother.

“HUMAN! YOU CAN SPEAK!”

They nodded silently, bringing their knees below their chin to look carefully at both the skeletons. Body language was still very guarded but their face looked a lot more relaxed. The two monsters waited patiently while the human took several deep breath and finally spoke.

“S-sorry for freaking out.” the human’s voice was soft and slightly high pitched, hinting they could be female. “Who are you? Where am I? How did get I here?” Her eyes shifted from one brother to the other.

“HUMAN, I AM SO RELIEVED YOU ARE FINALLY COHERENT. THERE IS NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE. WE HAVE MUCH WE WANT AND NEED TO TELL YOU. BUT YES, I SUPPOSE CIVILITY DICTATES WE INTRODUCE OURSELVES FIRST. I AM PAPYRUS. ALTHOUGH ONE DAY I HOPE TO BE REFERRED TO AS _THE GREAT PAPYRUS_!” Papyrus posed on one knee then gestured toward the other monster. “HERE BESIDE ME IS MY BROTHER.”

“heya there, the name’s sans.” He offered his hand and waited for the human to shake it. She hesitated before shyly grabbing the tip of his phalanges in a gentle shake, then quickly hid her hand back behind her knees. Papyrus quickly resumed the conversation.

“YOU ARE HERE IN THE UNDERGROUND, IN THE BASEMENT OF OUR WORKPLACE IN THE CAPITAL OF NEW HOME TO BE PRECISE. WE HAVE SUMMONED YOU HERE HUMAN!”

“Summoned?” She glanced at the chalked circle on the ground, noting it had been slightly smudged by her scattering away earlier. 

“YES! FOR YOU SEE, WE REQUIRE THE HELP OF A HUMAN IN ORDER TO FREE ALL MONSTERS THAT WERE UNFAIRLY IMPRISONED IN THE UNDERGROUND MANY CENTURIES AGO. WE WAITED FOR ONE TO APPEAR, HOWEVER…”

“this place has the worst tourism advertisement.”

“YES THEY ARE DOING A TERRIBLE JOB IND-WAIT, WHAT ADVERTISEMENT?”

“so we got tire of waiting and tried inviting you over instead.” Sans proceeded without missing a beat. “so glad you could make it. thanks pal.”

The human flashed an unimpressed look to the small skeleton.

“okay, so it’s a little more complicated than that…” Sans reached to behind him to scratch his skull. “but if you could at least listen to our request.”

“PERHAPS A BIT OF HISTORY WOULD HELP BETTER UNDERSTAND OUR PREDICAMENT, BROTHER?” Papyrus suggested.

The human smiled and nodded at the suggestion. Sans sighed in defeat and got up. Papyrus immediately recognized his brother’s demeanour and moved to sit beside the human, clapping his hands expectantly. The smaller monster stood in front of them, straightened back to the door and grabbed a nearby book before posing for maximal effect.

“welcome, bones and vertabeas, to monster history 101 – the compressed edition.” He bowed slightly before beginning his lecture.

[ to be continued ]

BONUS 

the Sans that started everything in 2017


	4. Monster History 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brothers tell the human about the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this so many times.  
> I'm sorry if it is a mess.
> 
> Hope you can enjoy it regardless :)

Monster history 101

_Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS._

Monsters were creatures of magic and kindness while Humans were beings of strength and determination. Both lived together, side by side and respected each other’s power. All was well for millennia and everyone thought the peace would last forever, however…

_One day, war broke out between the two races._

Monster villages were attacked, pillaged and burned to the ground. Families were torn apart. Friends were ripped from each other. Monsters tried to fight back, but their magical affinity could not measure up to the human strength both in body and will. One human could not be bested, even by a hundred monsters, and so no one was surprised with the outcome:

_After a long battle, the humans were victorious._

The monsters surrendered, their numbers decimated to a mere few hundreds when there had been tens of thousands. In a last desperate effort, their King and Queen pleaded for mercy and, after so many sacrifices, the rest of monsterkind was spared. However, the humans would not let the monsters go free.

_They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell._

Some say it was an act of mercy. Some say it was the cruelest thing the humans could ever do: They gathered 7 of their best magicians and banished the monsters into the mountain, sealing them up behind a magic seal and cursed magic to be forgotten by humanity so no human wizard would ever be able to break them free.

Betrayed and heartbroken, more monsters fell and turned to dust before their King and Queen could inspire them to move forward. The few left ventured deep into the mountain’s underground and finally came upon a cavern where they founded their new land. Looking to lift morals, the King named the caverns HOME and though it took time, the monsters settled down and their numbers eventually grew back up. After a few decades, the caverns became cramped and an expedition team, led by the royal couple, set out to expand the Monster kingdom.

They braved harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat until they came upon a large open land underground. There, they settled yet again to build their new capital: NEW HOME. Buildings, shops and schools rose up, the clever monsters making the best of their new situation and monster civilisation began to thrive again.

Although few monsters were left from the time before the war, relics of the upside kept washing in from the surface, making it impossible for them to completely forget the world outside the barrier and the human’s ultimate betrayal. Fearing monsters could one day begin to fall down again, the royal couple began to search for a new source of hope. They turned to their most trusted adviser, asking him for help in finding a way to break the barrier, so the monsters could hope for their return under the stars. Knowledge was collected and compiled into the Monster Grand Library. The newly appointed royal scientist, WingDing Gaster, was assigned to further research into the human’s ancient art of magic, as well as new forms of power sources they could use when the time came; when they would rise up to the humans.

As they dug deep into the ground, they found heat dwelling at the core of the mountain and turned it into an inexhaustible source of energy, providing the monsters from the capital to the ruins with light, warmth and hope of a better life thanks to the, unsurprisingly named, CORE. Over the centuries, their existence underground became somewhat bearable as monster settled in the different areas of the underground and into a more comfortable lifestyle. Several monsters engrossed themselves into salvaging everything that would fall into the dump from the upside. They could tell the world outside was changing, even without them, and every new gadget they found, book they read or new design they discovered was met with enthusiasm and curiosity. It became the dream of many to one day see all the wonders of the human world.

But in reality, the burden of freeing the monster fell on the King and Queen, and their royal scientist however, after centuries, they were still no closer to finding a solution. Eventually, the scientist’s own sons grew up to assist him, and with renewed energy, new discoveries were made in ancient human records. A new truth came to light.

The magic that sealed them away was human magic. The kind only children of both monster and human descent were able to use. It had required both races to be combined to allow enough magical strength to create a barrier that would withstand time and the absence of further magic in the world. It only made sense that both races were needed to traverse the barrier from the inside. However, after so many years, no humans were ever seen in the underground. Perhaps the barrier did not let humans being approach the mountain to begin with. They had no way of knowing for sure. Their only hope was that one day, a human would come to their rescue of their own free will.

_But nobody came…_

And so the monsters felt hopelessness once again. The King and Queen grieved for their people and striving to inspire monsterkind, they relinquished their immortality to bring a royal child into the world. As the King held his child to the masses, he promised his own son would one day see the world beyond the barrier, and so would all of monsterkind. All cheered, believing in the King and his promise.

Unknowingly, in the shadow, the royal scientist felt crushed by the pressure. His failings weighting on his shoulders, he returned to his laboratory, resigned to try even the most desperate measures…

* * *

As Sans spoke, he looked to his audience to see both his brother and the human entranced by his words as if the events of the past were displayed before their very eyes. He noted they had both gotten comfortably settled in their spot on the floor, the human even going so far as to slightly lean on his brother. He would have been concerned if it weren’t for the tears at the corners of her eyes she kept rubbing away as she learned of the hardship monsters had gone through. She had smiled with them when things seemed to get better, then quietly sniffled when they were met with hopelessness again. He could feel the human soul giving off waves of sympathy as he spoke and he knew his brother was safe... for now.

He went on to explain how the royal scientist had put himself in danger in an effort to force his way through the barrier and how his brother and he had come up with the idea of summoning a human instead of waiting for one. He then briefly summarized the procedure that brought them to the present moment.

“and that’s pretty much it!” Sans concluded as he set back the journal he had picked up.

“AS USUAL, GREAT STORY TELLING, BROTHER!”

“thank you~ thank you~ i’ll be here all week... and all month… aaand possibly all year.” The smaller skeleton winked, bowing as Papyrus started applauding.

The human followed Papyrus’ example and clapped her hands together, though not with the same energy. As she stopped, she wrapped her arms against her knees again and a shadow washed over her face.

“I’m... so sorry… for what you guys have been through because of humans.” She spoke with a quiet voice as she wiped her eyes once more, waves of guilt rippling out of her soul. “I don’t understand how someone could do something so cruel.”

The tall skeleton gave the girl a gentle look before getting up. He twirled toward her, his scarf still fluttering around him as he stopped and posed, hands on his hip bones.

“DO NOT WORRY, HUMAN! THOUGH YOUR CONCERN IS APPRECIATED, THIS WAS LONG BEFORE ALL OF OUR TIME. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO TO ABOUT THE PAST.” It’s not like they could somehow reset history after all… “BUT WE CAN STILL CHANGE THE FUTURE! AND WITH YOUR HELP, I’M SURE WE CAN FIND A WAY TO BREAK THE BARRIER AND RETURN BOTH YOU AND THE MONSTERS TO THE SURFACE!” He declared with absolute conviction. 

The human suddenly looked lost in thoughts, like she was trying to remember something, but she quickly brushed it off and looked back up at both of them with a soft smile. Sans frowned slightly at her pause.

“so… you’ll help us?” Sans scratched his cheek, hesitation tainting his tone.

“Of course!” She eagerly replied. “I’m not sure how I will be able to help exactly, but I’ll do my best!”

He watched as Papyrus jumped in joy and picked up a journal and, sitting back beside her, opened it to show the human. She kept smiling and nodding but something about her face was felt forced to him. She had been so attentive earlier, but now that the story was over and as Papyrus was starting to tell her about the founding of the capital, he could feel her focus slipping and some words seemed to simply not go through. He could still feel the rippling sympathy coming from her but something else was weaving its way beneath.

“pap, can I speak to you for a minute?” he interrupted them, gripping his brother’s shoulder. They took a few steps away toward the entrance of the study before Sans spoke again, keeping his voice low. “i think we should let the human rest for now.”

Papyrus glanced back and paused himself. He had been so overjoyed the spell had worked, he had forgotten the process could strain the newly formed human. When he saw the human’s eye start to glaze over as she stared at the journal he left in her hands, he was forced to agree. His eyelights moved back to his brother and spotted the darkening circles under his sockets. He knew Sans did not have much of an extensive magic reserve, hence the several containers he had prepared for tonight. Maybe he could use a rest as well. He had been too excited to notice his own exhaustion.

“FINE. WE CAN TAKE A SHORT REST BUT WE SHOULD PROCEED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.” He conceded with a sigh. Straightening his back, he took a step toward the door. “WE SHOULD GO GET FATHER AND-“ 

“h-hold on a second, bro,” Sans interrupted him, quickly stepping to block his brother’s path. He quickly glanced at the human to make sure she was still absent-mindedly flipping the pages of the journal. He leaned closer to his brother and continued in a whisper. “I don’t think we should tell Gaster yet.”

“WHY SHOULD WE NOT TELL HIM OUR PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS, BROTHER?” Papyrus questioned out loud, making Sans flinch and hastily sign his brother to lower his voice. “HE’S SURE TO PRAISE US FOR OUR WORK!”

“i’m not saying we shouldn’t tell him ever, just not this right now. i’m too bone tired to deal with him tonight.” Sans explained, making sure the human was still distracted.

“OKAY, JUST FOR TONIGHT. BUT YOU BETTER NOT OVERSLEEP EITHER, YOU LAZYBONE.” Papyrus agreed, a reprimanding expression on his face.

“aw pap,” Sans closed his left socket into a wink. “you see right through me, don’t you? And here i thought i’d _marrowly_ get away with it.”

“SANS, PLEASE DON’T START AGAIN, I’VE HAD ENOUGH FOR TODAY! “ Papyrus let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose hole. The human made a whining noise that caught his attention and he glanced back at her.

“you always get cranky when you’re _bone_ tired.”

“SANS…” Papyrus whined, this time joined by the human.

“just admit it, you can’t get enough of my _fibula_ -ous puns~”

“SANS!” His voice sounded a bit more panicked than a few puns warranted.

Halting his own chuckles, Sans looked to the other two only to find them paling as they stared at something behind him.

_Speaking of bad jokes…_

Sans slowly turned around and took a sharp intake when Gaster’s towering figure him stared him right in the eye sockets, visibly pissed. The young skeleton jumped back with a surprised yelp that echoed behind him.

“aaaah!!”

“NYAAAAAH!!”

“Aaaaah!!!”

All three huddled together in the back of the room as Gaster stepped forward with a disapproving scowl. He waited for them to be quiet, glancing around the altered study, taking in the books, the magic circle and most importantly, sandwiched between the brothers… the human.

**“It would appear you two have been busy…”**

[ to be continued…]

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BONUS!

Our sweet tall boi's original design from 2017~


	5. Fruitful Scheming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is in the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting~
> 
> Here's a new chapter staring Gaster in all of his magnificence.  
> I learned so many new word trying to up my vocabulary to adjust to his POV.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy ^^

Chap 4 : Fruitful Scheming

Deep under the capital, was a labyrinth of corridors any normal person would get lost in. The only lighting being small lights that peppered the walls, reflecting in the glowing stones imbued in the finely crafted hallways. It was the realm of the royal scientist and his exclusively chosen assistants. Still, only a few of them knew their way around the complicated paths. The area was spread so widely, they rarely crossed each other. They usually kept to their very specific tasks and the skeleton monster in charge of the premises preferred to keep it that way. He would much rather rely on written reports and journal entries than personally meet with them. When they did meet, he was often exasperated by their lack of progress and considered best to save his precious time for actual development and avoid the usual social chatter they tended to try and involve him in. Of course there were exceptions, namely two of them…

His steps echoed in the quiet corridors, slow and tired after a long day of testing a new formula of monster medicine. His mind still heavy with thoughts of his recent failure, he eyed his latest report entry, wondering how long it had been since his two personal assistants had talked him into resting. He felt both irritated and grateful they had left him alone for the time being. Although he understood they had his best interest in mind, they also tended to interrupt him for trivial things like resting... or eating… Although, he remembered them being unusually lacking in their attention lately. They had apparently busied themselves with cleaning up some of the lesser used rooms. Papyrus had been particularly insistent that they were trying to catalog all older documents regarding human history they had salvaged over time in prevision of transferring them into the main library.

For once, he had decided to take some time to rest of his own volition. He could always redact his report in the relative comfort of his office chamber on the level below, perhaps maybe just check in rapidly on the brothers before proceeding. Not that he was worried of course. They had just been significantly quieter lately.

His phalanges twitched on the report he was holding. In the silence of the late evening, an unusual noise caught his attention. Were those… screams? He could place the recognizably loud intonation of his younger son easily along with his elder’s quieter one. His back straightened in surprise. Although he was used to Papyrus’s voice echoing in the labs at times, Sans rarely even raised his voice beyond the volume of a lively conversation. What could they possibly be up to that would justify such ruckus, not to mention so late at night?

He stepped to the west, toward the source of the noise. The shouts were repeated a few times before falling silent and Gaster toyed with the idea to just let them be however… a strange intuition guided his footsteps toward the study his assistants had told him they were cleaning earlier today. Soft light leaked through the cracked door and as he got closer, he grew concerned they may have knocked something over, perhaps even injured themselves. It would not be the first time an unreliable shelf gave in to the weight of the heavy books they stored.

As he approached, listening in for signs of distress, he noted with a raised brow the slight dust cloud settling down in the doorway. So much for cleaning…

“I’M SO SORRY! WE DIDN’T MEAN TO SCARE YOU!” Papyrus suddenly spoke as Gaster held his hand up to push the door, halting his movement.

Could another monster be in there with them? He had told the brothers to refrain from fraternize with the volunteers that helped the magic gathering operations as well as the other assistants they had hired to inspect the core over the last few months. Beside, as far as he knew, all of them had gone home already. Who could they possibly be talking to in there?

“can’t believe it worked... pap, it really worked!” Sans commented with audible astonishment. Scattering noises followed his statement and a scared whine resonated in the room.

Well now he just had to know. He carefully pushed on the door, opening it wider to look inside. Several bookshelves layered the way in, blocking the view of the back of the room. Keeping as quiet as possible, Gaster moved along the shelves, and peeked around the corner, only to retract himself quickly and lean back with a repressed gasp. He must have been hallucinating. He shifted again to glance back at the unbelievable scene.

Papyrus knelt on the floor, hands raised toward the back of the room where a figure tried to hide in the shadows of the corner of the room, eyes wide in shock. He could not see them clearly but he could feel the soul inside them, though the magical signature was completely off, strong, yet diffused and wavering with fear. As a matter of fact, it was not magic. Not monster magic. This was…

The being made another strangled noise half way between a whine and a groan, like it was trying to form words but they were caught in their throat. The soul gave off a panicked wave and Papyrus spoke in a softer voice, trying to calm it down.

“We Mean No Harm, Please Calm Down.” The tall skeleton cooed at them, sitting back on his heels to give them some space. “See, We Are Friendly, You Have Nothing To Worry About, Human.”

Human

A Human!

Gaster grasped at his chest, his magic bubbling violently between his phalanges as his soul flared up in excitement. He felt his magic actively rise despite his exhausted state, threatening to shatter his body’s physical integrity. He focused his magic to hold himself together. How could this be possible?

With controlled lungless breathes, he willed the oozing substance of his body to stop boiling so he could bring his attention back to listening. The soul still felt wavering behind him and he could not risk shocking the human further. If he was to show himself, probabilities were they would feel threatened by the growing number of monsters cornering them and he could not risk them striking out at the two young skeletons. Neither of them had the stats to take on a human. For now, careful distanced observation would have to do.

Another quick glance confirmed Sans had backed away to a safer distance to assess the situation and Gaster internally blessed the smaller skeleton for his intelligence and prudence. On the other hand, Papyrus was still kneeling rather close to the human. He evaluated that he was still at a safe distance for him to pull him out if the human attacked so, for now, he did not need to intervene. It was beyond him how his assistants appeared to be unphased by the human’s presence in the underground, as if they had been expecting it. How could a human have fallen into the underground without his knowing?

His thoughts were interrupted again by the human’s gargled noise. It still sounded like words but the syllable we mixed with throat noise, making them unintelligible.

“the soul still seems to be settling in, pap” Sans whispered, his eyes carefully studying the being before them.

“Is That Why They Are Making Those Noises Brother?” the lanky skeleton asked, “Perhaps It Is A Normal Aftereffect Of The Summoning?” Sans responded with a pensive hum.

Gaster’s face contorted into a frown, magic dripping from his skull. He had not dared consider it but, could the young skeletons really be responsible for the sudden appearance of the human in their lab?! His doubts on the matter lessened more and more as Papyrus repeated his comforting words to the now quiet human. They had brought them here. Through a summoning process? He would have to thoroughly interrogate them later but for now, however, he could only keep a careful watch on the situation and listen to the younger skeleton repeat reassuring words to the human.

A real human.

In the flesh.

His magic started bubbling again at the thought as his mind raced.

They would have to prepare the examination room as soon as possible, as well as an adequate living quarter for it. There was a chamber on the third level of the basement he sometimes used to rest, back when he did want not leave the laboratories. That was before Papyrus had gotten into the habit of escorting him home to make sure he slept. The room was isolated enough to avoid unwanted attention and deep enough into the premise the human would not be able to find its way out if it left. Still, it would be wiser to create a lock for the room and secure the connected wing, just in case. Then again, with so much to do, he would easily consider just keeping the human in the examination room altogether. With a human soul to work with, he knew he would not any sleep anytime soon. So much potential for testing theories awaited them now. They would need to sample it. They would most likely be able to extract the human’s essence and ultimately distill it back to its ancient form of magic. The records spoke of human soul traits. What was this soul’s trait? Could they draw out more than one trait out of this one? Maybe they could even find how to reproduce it. He could not wait to hold it in his hands at last. The last human soul he had seen was centuries ago but he still remembered. The shape, the color, the warmth and the wavelength it let out as it throbbed above his phalanges before it had expired. Mmh... They would have to find a way to conserve the human vessel as long as possible. Perhaps if the human was in good breeding condition, they could even recreate the mage species and-

“HUMAN! YOU CAN SPEAK!” Papyrus said happily.

Gaster startled to attention, cursing himself for contemplating when the human was still not officially secured.

“S-sorry for freaking out.” the human’s voice was soft and slightly high pitched, definitely female.

‘Even better!’ he thought, delighted. He glanced once more around the shelf and confirmed the shape of the human's body corresponded to a female specimen. She had moved slightly out of the shadow, and luckily her body language still showed no hostility. On the contrary, they gave off a wave of worried curiosity as they asked where they were and how they got here. Ever compliant, Papyrus gifted the human the information she requested without hesitation before proceeding with his own explication and for her assistance.

“… WE WAITED FOR ONE TO APPEAR, HOWEVER…”

“this place has the worst tourism advertisement.”

He pinched the bridge between his eye sockets at his son’s joke. Could he not take anything seriously? Of all times, he had pick now to jest around? Unsurprisingly, the human had not reacted, the small skeleton’s quip being met with –hopefully reprobating – silence. Sans quickly picked himself up and followed up with a more serious tone. At the youngest skeleton’s request, he then proceeded to tell the human of their history.

It was an oversimplified tale, unworthy of the true retelling of monsterkind’s suffering through the centuries of their imprisonment, but Gaster had to admit, Sans had done an excellent job of condensing their history in a brief, yet compelling way. He had no doubt voluntarily withheld the details regarding the causes of the war against human and had effectively drawn sympathy wavelengths from the human listening. For a moment, he let himself relive their past through his son’s capable words, finding the reminiscence of their perseverance as a species renewed his will to make good on his promise to his King and Queen.

The tale came to an conclusion and Gaster listened carefully for the human’s reaction, fully leaning his back against the shelf in the entryway. To his surprise, he heard a few choked sobs escape her. This was good. Guilt and sympathy would play to their advantage in securing the human’s willingness to voluntarily participate to his future experiments. From what he could tell with the way she had so quickly agreed to help the brothers, she was either very gentle soul or too weak to put up a fight and smart enough to play along with them until she could gain back some strength. The only way to be sure was to assess the soul’s LVL and EXP himself as soon as possible. With a little luck, she would be a kind soul or have a strong integrity trait with low stats. He could still feel wavelengths coming off of her but it felt different than he remembered from the humans in the past. The uncertainty was rattling him. All the hypotheses he could come up with, hiding here, were of no use if they could not be tested and verified. The human had evidently settled down completely, even agreeing to cooperate with the brothers, showing a somewhat submissive quality that would make it easy to work with her. He wondered what next step his young assistants were planning on taking. Would they leave the human alone while they went to get him? Did they trust her enough to leave either one of them alone while the other fetched him?

“i think we should let the human rest for now.” Sans whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

“FINE. WE CAN TAKE A SHORT REST BUT WE SHOULD PROCEED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.” Papyrus conceded with clear exhaustion in his voice. The fatigue they had kept at bay to remain alert before must be have been hitting them full force now that the human had proven to be no threat. “WE SHOULD GO GET FATHER AND-“ 

“h-hold on a second, bro. i don’t think we should tell Gaster yet.” Sans interrupted him, causing the doctor’s eye sockets to grow wider.

What? No!

“WHY SHOULD WE NOT TELL HIM OUR PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS, BROTHER?” Papyrus questioned and Gaster nodded, silently listening in the darkness. Why indeed?

“i’m not saying we shouldn’t tell him ever, just not this right now. i’m too _bone_ tired to deal with him tonight.” He replied, the overused pun gritting at the scientist’s patience. The reprimanding huff coming from his taller assistant confirmed he was equally unamused. Gaster could understand they were weary, would even allow them to have a well-deserved rest to replenish their magic but not reporting the arrival of a living, breathing human in his own lab was unacceptable.

“OKAY, JUST FOR TONIGHT. BUT YOU BETTER NOT OVERSLEEP EITHER, YOU LAZYBONE.” Papyrus agreed and Gaster felt a slight pang of betrayal cross his soul: He had not expected him to side with his brother, at least not so quickly, and certainly not with an unintended pun of his own to add insult to injury.

Were they really hoping to keep the human a secret? From him? For how long? Were they really going to delay the opportunity to assess the human’s soul because of something as trivial as fatigue? He clasped his phalanges on the bookshelf, gripping the edge with more force than he intended. He willed his grip to lessen, but not before the wood let out a slight cracking noise under the pressure. He straightened his back, taking a step out of the shadow to put an end to this nonsensical situation.

“aw pap, you see _right through me_ , don’t you? and here i thought i’d _marrow_ ly get away with it.”

He felt his face tense at the ridiculous play of words reaching his ear holes. His magic was boiling again, this time in irritation, his body drooping despite his concentration and goopy drips of magic fell to the floor at his feet as he took a second step. Emerging from behind the bookshelf, he walked into the room and his tall presence immediately caught the human’s attention. Her face rose in his direction and he smiled to himself at the shock that washed over her small face. She uselessly lifted the journal she held to her chest in protection and stared wide eyed at him as he approached his squabbling offsprings from behind.

“SANS, PLEASE DON’T START AGAIN, I’VE HAD ENOUGH FOR TODAY! “Papyrus worded his own exasperation. His attention was suddenly caught by a distressed whine coming from the human. When he turned to her, she hesitantly pointed behind him. Following her gaze, he finally took notice of their audience and blanched. 

“you always get cranky when you’re _bone_ tired.” Sans continued. Gaster took another step behind him, what was left of his good mood marred by the repetition of the preposterous pun.

“SANS…” Papyrus whined in warning, echoed by the human behind him.

“just admit it, you can’t get enough of my _fibula_ -ous puns~” 

“ _SANS_!”

This time, the unsavory comedian seemed to catch on and his chuckles came to a stop. He carefully turned around and took a sharp intake when he met Gaster’s annoyed glare. The young skeleton jumped back with a surprised yelp that echoed with the others behind him.

“aaaah!!”

“NYAAAAAH!!”

“Aaaaah!!!”

All three huddled together in the back of the room. Gaster stepped forward while he waited for them to be quiet. He then assessed the material they had hoarded in the room, taking in the books, and the magic circle at his feet surrounded by empty magic canisters. They had managed all of this without his knowledge. If he wasn’t so exasperated by Sans’s fresh batch of puns, he would be feeling rather proud.

‘Children,’ he reminded himself. ‘And yet, they still surprise me.’

Standing tall in the study, Gaster traded his angry scowl for a scrutinizing grin.

“It would appear you two have been busy…”

It took but a few seconds for Sans to recover from the shock and stand back up, taking a step in front of the other two in a vague attempt to keep them from view. Of course this was too little too late, but the motion had Gaster raise an amused brow. The boy visibly forced his tense shoulders down into a dubious confident stance, his arms rising to rest behind his suddenly sweaty skull.

“h-hey Gaster. fancy seeing you here. w-what can we help you with, on this fine evening?” he nonchalantly offered.

The scientist let out an unimpressed huff, his eye lights trailing down behind the skeleton to where Papyrus and the human kept holding each other. Had the fleshy specimen not looked frozen solid, he would have been worried. The kind boy had wrapped his long arms around her in a protective manner and was positively assuring her she was safe. He could appreciate her being told he was not a threat: He was planning to subdue her, not threaten her.

“Sans, why is it I was not told we had a guest?” he asked with a controlled voice as he naturally gestured to the ones sitting behind him. “Surely this young woman deserves better than sitting on a dirty floor. Please, allow me,” he added. Slightly bowing to offer her a hand, he brushed his son aside, effectively making him take a step to the side and out of the way. Sans sputtered a protest, but Gaster paid it no mind and kept his eyes on the small human.

The girl flinched at the sudden closeness of the bony phalanges and her fingers tightened their grasp on Papyrus’ dark coat. Her eyes flashed with uneasiness at the slime that connected his wrist to his bust but he ignored it. When she turned to the one in her hold, as if asking if the towering monster before her could be trusted, the young skeleton nodded with a encouraging smile, missing the strained expression on the other small skeleton’s face. Before Sans had the time to object however, she had turned back to the tall monster and had accepted his hand with a shy smile.

Torn between prudence and excitement, Gaster revelled in the softness of the contact. It had been so long since he had felt the makeup of human skin against his bone, he found himself feeling almost nostalgic for a brief moment. He willed his soul to stop throbbing in his chest, his magic already nearing his physical form’s breaking point. The slimy texture of his formerly invisible limbs oozed in contentment when her fingers untangled from their grasp on his son and she let him pull her up to stand before him.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Doctor WingDing Gaster.” His eyelights danced on her face, detailing it with caution as he lifted her small hand inches away from his face in a contactless hand kiss. “I am the master of these premises.”

Her complexion was rather pale, except for the slight pink gradually coloring her cheeks when she noticed him observing her. The hair on her head flowed down onto her shoulders in thick loose curls, covering a small part of her forehead and cheek. As he had previously noted, she was of small stature, smaller than Sans actually, and she had felt light as a feather when he pulled her up. Letting go of her hand, he gently caught her chin between his fingers and raised her face toward him. She met his face with brownish green eyes, like two pools of fertile soil, which he was pleased to see had trouble holding his gaze. Perfect.

“What is your name, little one?” he asked with a silken voice. She frowned in response and her colorful pupils shifted away from him with an emotion he could not place. She took a step back, shoulders raised into a protective manner, her small lips trembling in hesitation.

“I… I don’t know…” she admitted after a moment.

Her answer took the scientist by surprise and if the brothers’ reaction was anything to go by, he was not the only one. He glanced at his older apprentice with a questioning glare. Sans met his gaze with a slight shrug, seemingly saying they hadn’t gotten to that part yet. Was there no curiosity left in his bone? They had clearly introduced themselves earlier, how is Asgore’s name had they not inquired about the human’s identity still? He contained his frustration, returning his attention to the girl. He eyes were downcast and at this distance, he could feel worry stream out of her soul. Papyrus stood to brush his fingers against her forearm in a reassuring motion, his careful touch indicating he could also feel the soul’s uncertainty. His usual enthusiasm was tainted with growing worry. 

“BUT YOU DO HAVE A NAME, YES?” he pressed with a soft smile. Her eyes shifted from him to Sans.

“I mean, I must have.” she pondered. “You guys didn’t just pull me out of thin air, didn’t you?” The skeleton stared back, his eyelights shrinking to small dots.

Silence

“right... “ Sans cringed slightly, looking away. Her shoulders slumped at his response and Papyrus reiterate his calming stroke on her arm in an attempt to comfort her.

Gaster had to repressed his satisfaction. Thank to the brother’s unawareness, the human’s confidence was shrinking and he already had the perfect plan to fix both her need for answers and his growing need to assess the human’s dispositions. Sans shifted closer, but Gaster shuffled past him to block him from the human’s view. He summoned a hand behind his back and silently signed ‘leave this to me’, causing the skeleton to let out a frustrated groan in response.

“I have yet to comb through the details of your emergence, my dear, but if your name intrigues you, I do know of a simple way to find out,” he offered, capturing the girl’s attention once more.

“You do?”

She obviously was curious and he was pleased to note any apprehension she had toward him seemed to fade with the passing minutes. This would be all the more easy if she trusted him.

“Indeed I do,” he crooned with a grin. He could feel the magic dripping on his skull in anticipation. “You see, we all possess a soul that is the culmination of our being. Us monsters have the ability to draw out one’s soul and perform a check on its attributes.”

Sans choked on a breathless gasp as he quickly caught on to the doctor’s plan.

“you want to pull out her soul? but that’s-”

“A brilliant idea, I know,” Gaster cut him off, poring over an insisting glare at him. “One without prejudice or underlying meaning, other than identifying our precious guest.” He gave the boy a warning look. “Or would you rather she was kept in the dark about her own identity?”

Sans’ face strained with the effort not to retort but Gaster would not let him interfere any further. The human didn’t need to know monster etiquette regarding soul touching. After all, her soul would most certainly be probed and manipulated in ample quantity in the near future regardless. He was far from unfamiliar with the notion that checking one’s soul with no confrontation purpose was something he should not normally suggest in front of his younger son, but if they had really called the human into the underground, planning to ask for their help, they must have known this would have been necessary at one point or another. This was the perfect occasion to pull out the human’s soul and at last feel its warmth between his fingers. He almost salivated at the thought. He quickly composed himself before turning back to the human with a calculated smile.

She had turned her attention to Papyrus, whose hand had stopped mid stroke at the mention of a check, but despite the slight surprise painting his skull, he seemed to be agreeing this was an efficient method. Pleased to have the support of at least one of his sons, he lowered himself to one knee to level himself with the small human.

“With your permission, I would like to perform a check on your soul.” He explained with the most suave voice he had ever heard himself use. His excitement throbbed in his skull but he knew it would be foolish to let it show. “The soul contains the information about your being and therefore will certainly contain your missing name.”

Turning to face him fully, she searched his face, a new wave of worry seeping out of her soul.

“Wouldn’t that hurt, if not kill me?” she asked and he had to suppress a laughter.

“In fact this is but a trivial and painless examination, I assure you,” he pledged, one of his hands held to his chest.

She looked over to Sans behind him. His face closed and arms crossed in front of him, he seemed to be grumbling something to himself. When he felt her gaze, he jerked to attention and noticing she was waiting for him to confirm if what the doctor said was true, he let out a sigh.

“maybe a slight discomfort at worst,” he corroborated with a resigned pout. His honesty hinted he wanted the human to agree with the monster’s plan regardless of his own reservation. That seemed to be confirmation enough for her.

“okay,” she finally agreed with visible relief.

Gaster felt a shiver of satisfaction run up his spine.

“Well then,” he spoke as two of his hands moved to gesture to her chest. “Let us take a look, shall we…”

[ to be continued ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this new chapter!
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment!
> 
> I have the dialogue already written for a future one but I've been called back to work and so it's a bit hard to say when it'll be ready.
> 
> In the meantime, i'm also beta reading another awesome fic: Bitty House by Blamefulsea.
> 
> Go check it out:   
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/22886086/chapters/54700921


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